MADISON, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Shaun C. Lonergan joins Nerites Corporation as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors with a distinguished record of success in building medical technology companies that leverage corporate partners to launch innovative products. Most recently, Mr. Lonergan served as Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Business Development for Ibis Biosciences, leading to its sale for $215 Million to Abbott Molecular in January, 2009. Prior to Ibis, Mr. Lonergan held similar executive positions at 454 Life Sciences, where he closed a $62 Million distribution agreement with Roche Diagnostics, and NimbleGen Systems, which was acquired by Roche Diagnostics for $273 Million in 2007. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lonergan was Vice President of Corporate Development at Third Wave Technologies, where he participated in completing an Initial Public Offering valuing the company at $325 Million.

“Since founding Nerites in 2004, I have looked forward to the day when the market validates our vision to the point that we can attract executives of Shaun’s caliber,” stated former CEO Thomas Mozer, who will continue to serve as President and Chief Operations Officer. “Our technology is maturing and we’ve made headway in product development. The Nerites team welcomes Shaun and we’re all very excited about the opportunities that his leadership will present.”

George Arida, Chairman of the Nerites Board of Directors, commented: “We’re extremely pleased to welcome Shaun Lonergan as Nerites’ new CEO. Shaun has broad and deep experience in commercializing new technologies and driving growth. Bringing Shaun on board will drive future partnerships and position us well for upcoming clinical trials and product commercialization.”

“Nerites has a solid foundation with an extremely innovative platform technology,” stated Lonergan. “They have attracted early partners and established a strong product pipeline. My goal in joining Nerites is to accelerate the commercial development process and broaden our set of corporate relationships. Many of the pieces are in place for an immensely successful medical device firm.”

About Nerites: Nerites Corporation commercializes, through partners, a new generation of synthetic bio-adhesives that can enhance natural tissue repair, reduce postoperative complications, and degrade safely when they are no longer needed. The hydrogel technology can be used to close internal tears or incisions, to prevent leakage and infection, and to affix synthetic or biologic medical devices. Properties can be “tuned” to fit each application. The technology was described with a cover article in the journal Nature (July, 2007) and was labeled “one of the top 100 scientific developments of 2007” by Discover Magazine. (www.Nerites.com)